Board of Directors

Jim Burge joined the CASA Board of Directors in 2015 after serving on the Finance Committee beginning in October 2014. He played a significant role facilitating development of the recently completed Strategic Plan. Jim has extensive experience in corporate planning, financial analysis, business development and mergers and acquisitions. He worked for Smart & Final for 17 years as Vice President, Strategic Planning and later served as Director of Corporate Development for Farmer Brothers Coffee. He began his career with Marriott Corporation after receiving an MBA degree from UCLA.

Jim and his wife, Julie, have lived in Santa Barbara since 1990. Their two sons, Andrew and David, grew up in Santa Barbara attending public schools. Jim is currently assisting David and his nephew James with their start-up of Pure Order Brewing, a local craft microbrewery.

Patty Santiago joined the board of CASA in 2013 after retiring from a long career in education.  Originally from Wisconsin, Patty attended the University of Wisconsin and graduated from Carroll College.  She has been a resident of Santa Barbara for over 30 years after moving here to attend the teaching credential program at UCSB.  She was a teacher at Franklin and Peabody schools in Santa Barbara and Isla Vista school in Goleta.  

After many years of teaching, she returned to UCSB for a Master’s degree in educational administration.  She then served as an assistant principal at Peabody and La Cumbre Junior High School and principal at Washington School in Santa Barbara. The past 7 years she was the principal at La Patera School in Goleta.  Her many years of working with children was one of the motivating factors for joining the CASA board.

In addition to serving on the CASA board, Patty has worked with the United for Literacy Committee at the United Way.  She also volunteers at Dos Pueblos High School working with senior English AP students. She has three adult children, all of who attended local schools, who live in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.

Tony Papa joined the board of directors in 2009. He is a seasoned chief executive and corporate advisor.  He is the founder and CEO of Ciralta, Inc.  He is also chairman and co-founder of Impulse 
Communications, a provider of business telephone and internet services. 

Born and raised in New York, Tony and his wife Sabrina moved to Santa Barbara in 1994.  They have two adult children, Michael and Lindsay.  Tony is a staff commodore of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club and chairman of the club’s Long Range Planning and Advisory Committee.  He is active in the sailing community and has served as chairman for several yachting charity events.

Tony previously served as the local committee chair for the Adventure Leadership Program (ALP) sponsored by Minnesota-based Wilderness Inquiry.  He served as a board member for the Girl Scouts of Tres Condados, during which time he helped the organization reintroduce the Mariners program in Santa Barbara, and as a director for the Santa Barbara Youth Sailing Foundation.

Julie Henley is a consultant and advisor to early stage technology companies. Her engagements focus on strategic planning, optimizing Product and Engineering teams, coaching and mentoring, facilitating large projects, tackling communication gaps and connecting people along the way. Julie has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  Prior to moving to Santa Barbara, Julie served as a Board Member for the Boys and Girls Club in Venice for 5 years. 

Veronica Sandoval has more than 21 years of experience working for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and currently serves as the Administrator for the Chumash Foundation. In her role as the Administrator, she is responsible for managing the tribe's philanthropic programs including administering grants, sponsorships, and in-kind donations to local nonprofit organizations, overseeing multi-year commitments, developing community partnerships, and overseeing the employee volunteer program - Team Chumash. Sandoval has a long history in the Santa Ynez Valley and descents from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. Active in both her tribal community and the local community Sandoval was currently re-elected to the College School District Board of Trustees, a position she has held since 2011.

Sandoval also served as a board member for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Santa Barbara County from 2013 until 2015. In 2015 she stepped down when she was appointed to the Child Welfare Safety Net Task Force. As a Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisor's appointee, Sandoval along with three other Task Force members were responsible for examining the Child Welfare System to ensure that it was performing at its highest level to serve Santa Barbara County foster youth. Sandoval is a former foster turned adoptive parent and rejoined the CASA board in November 2016 to continue the important work of advocating for Santa Barbara County's most vulnerable children.

For over twenty-five years, Virginia Benson Wigle worked in the Santa Barbara non-profit sector, most recently serving as Vice President of Education for Planned Parenthood of Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo. In her twenty year tenure with Planned Parenthood, Virginia served two terms on the California State legislative committee for Planned Parenthood affiliates, collaborated in writing and managing private, county, and federal grants, and developed and implemented health programs throughout the central coast. She participated and organized several local non-profit and school district steering committees including the Santa Barbara and Ventura County Public Health HIV/AIDS Taskforce, Central Coast Coalition for Responsible Parenting, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo Teen Task Force. Prior to working for Planned Parenthood, Virginia worked for the Rape Crisis Center and volunteered at the Shelter Services for Women. She served as a board member for the Carpinteria Lou Grant Parent/Child Workshop and the Carpinteria Education Foundation.   

Virginia graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara with a degree in History and Art History. She currently lives in Santa Barbara with her husband John, and daughter, Ella.